AP Lit 2016/17: Touching Base

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. I won't interrupt for too long, but I did want to touch base briefly about a couple of things:

The AP Literature Google Classroom and Group are up and running. You should have received notifications/invites in your school email. Have a look around when you have a moment.

The Summer Homework is posted at Google Classroom. The first part, "Making Contact," should already be done (if it's not, do it now). The second part, posting to the forums, requires Google Groups.  Once done, you can check off both of these assignments at Classroom if you want.

I know it is early in the summer and most of you probably have not actually started How to Read Literature Like a Professor (here's a PDF copy), but when you do:

• Don't expect to get all the references to other books and stories. The examples are just to help you get his point.
• Read carefully and with tools (e.g. a pen, highlighter, sticky notes, or their digital equivalents). Dialogue with the text—highlight AND comment on interesting or troubling passages, mark sections to discuss online or in class later, etc.
• Actually read it. Pretending to read it (or anything we study this year) is a useless exercise. It's like pretending to do push-ups: it won't make you stronger.

Don't hesitate to email or text if you have any questions. I look forward to your thoughts on How to Read Literature Like a Professor.